"The Obelisk" and "Behind the Glass as Youth Walks Out"

The Obelisk

I.

wheat stands gilt ready for harvest each crown bent in anticipation

hand in hand we enter the field wade through the golden waves toward the grove at the centre a leisurely flow like choreography across the calm and quiet space our accompaniment not strings lark and oriole and whippoorwill

this is slow motion like the clouds across the sky like the hawk lazing a circle at the centre

a day out of time a day to leave one’s self behind commune with some universal spirit

we are like that here out of time out of place

II.

the chiaroscuro of the wood dapple of light among the black makes all reality appear unreal puts the lie to any notions we might have had of noon

the feel is not of ghouls and grasping shadows

we enjoy our walk across the dampness fallen leaves with the untimely shade the soft breeze cooling us

what dark shadows might threaten the slender darts of the sun melt or soften to nothing more dangerous than the sodden leaves underfoot

after the webbed shadow of the trees the sun seems brighter than before we pause at the edge of the grove uncertain of our eyes

the field here is almost exactly as the one we have left behind us grain as gold sky as blue clouds as brightly glowing

except in the distance there is a shadow perhaps of coming rain and the hawk is nowhere to be seen none of this surprises me

what does is the obelisk

III.

it stands in the middle of the field white and redolent of sunlight possibly twenty metres tall at its top the life size figure of a man his stance and attitude of attention feet together hands at his sides face forward and upward

caught in some undertow of flowing grain we gravitate from the shadows toward this misplaced monument

as we move toward him the man on the pedestal slowly raises his arms outward sideways to shoulder height

we are almost at the base of his tower the man falls forward into nothingness

my heart stops every function of my body stops I feel the hand I hold in mine convulse and tighten

Bob MacKenzie has been published across North America and as far away as Australia and India in publications that include Literary Review of Canada, Dalhousie Review, Windsor Review, and Ball State University Forum. He’s published thirteen volumes of poetry and prose-fiction and has been featured in numerous anthologies. He’s received numerous awards for his writing, including an Ontario Arts Council grant for literature, a Canada Council Grant for performance, and a Fellowship to attend the Summer Literary Seminars in Tbilisi, Georgia. With the performance ensemble Poem de Terre, Bob’s performed his poetry with original music and released six albums.